Chats, Change and Chicken

The word of the week is personal.

Aug 8 - About This Blog ...

Who's reading this blog, anyway? Sure, it's a weekly update for my friends and family, but there's a LOT here blogwise for these last 3.8 years - and I like to think mostly good things, too. For someone to sit down and browse through it is a heavy slog though, as there's a lot of material in there: my interests, world events, my personal observations, info about my work and family life. Thoughts, dreams, goals, aspirations and failures, along with friends and fun times - these are the contents of the blog, easily accessible from the side menu to the left, by date. I would hope that anyone looking to get to know me better would want to look through at least some of the entries, as they chart( to a fair degree )my journey as a person and allow me to look back with older eyes on things that happened in my life, along with everyone around me. So far, it's been worth every word I've put in.

Aug 9 - Harlan and JMS, Signed!

Today a book arrived in the mail that I will cherish for a long, long time: Brain Moves, by Harlan Ellison. What makes this small-press book special, apart from being written by one of my fave authors of all time, is that it is signed. Not only by Harlan Ellison, but also by J. Michael Straczynski, whose name I am able to spell at first dash due to my long-held admiration of this work. Having BOTH of these author signatures together in one work is an extreme rarity and makes it a true personal collectible in my eyes, akin to having Neil Gaiman sign my forehead. Well, maybe not THAT extreme, but I think I've made my point of how thrilled I am to have this book. There are very few things on this planet that I consider collectible in that regard; those few that I do, I will never, ever sell... eBay be damned.  

Aug 10 - I Talk About Work, With Work, Finally!

Today was Long Talk day, when I took both my temp District Manager and my soon-to-be DM aside next door at Wendy's for Lunch. I had a Talk with them for over an hour, where I spelled out How Things Were and how they got there, as well as Where I Saw Things Going. I was honest with them without complaining about all the crap that I've waded through, as well as being frank about my wanting to leave right up until last week on Aug 3rd when Head Office said We Are Sorry, Really. So I got ALL that off my chest, without going into detail on all the other things that have Made My Life Suck for the past ten years - I summed up a lot, glossed over other things and finished off my Spicy Chicken with fries before it got cold. Their reaction was excellent: understanding, supportive yet not weak or sympathetic; it's a business and we all have to Move On - as I explained I was on the verge of doing. I left for the day feeling optimistic, despite the score of 55 out of 100 we received on our first Audit of the year this week - terrible, but I didn't let it bother me, as I'd already 'left' last week and didn't really care. Now that I can see some hope for the company caring about me, I can start to bring things back into line again with the support of my fantastic staff.

After my vacation is done, thank-you-very-much.  Total burnout will take at least 3 weeks to recover from!

Aug 11 - Am I Boring?

This has come up before, but I still think it worth mentioning: I'm troubled some days by the thought that I'm boring. Not in the yawn-inducing sense, but in the 'safe-as-houses' or 'good-old-him' sort of way... that people take me for granted as I am. Then I'm struck by the though that maybe that's a GOOD thing, right? That I help people feel good about themselves, that they can trust me unreservedly no matter what, that I try to ensure that whenever I spend time with my friends or family that they part from me feeling like I've added to their lives, somehow - even if I'm not feeling all that good myself. Which does worry me sometimes, as I have rarely opened up about all the major stresses in my life to my friends and only a few of my family members. That if people knew what a fragile balance I maintained most days, they may think less of me... or not. The fact that I'm writing about this now shows that that particular line of thought bothers me less every year... but that I still think I'm complaining too much, instead of doing. Yet when you're feeling so down, isn't the only way out to go up?

Aug 12 - What's a Vacation, really?

Ah, my first day of vacation... and boy am I tired. I'll tell you fairly, that very few of my vacations have REALLY been vacations in the sense of the word. I've mostly used them as breaks to move my family from home to home, or else travel to see friends for weddings. Practically the only vacations I've ever had in the last ten years that were worthy of the title were the ones I took to Mexico and those were with family. Which was great, but I've never had anyone other than family to go with - which is a bummer, as I'd love to explore the world with someone else along for the ride that I'm not related to as I've never had that experience. To travel to Paris or the beaches of Australia with a friend, to journey to Maccu Pichu or see the Pyramids... I've seen some things in this world, fair enough, but definitely NOT enough or with enough different people. I've felt the urge of Change lately, and I'm hearing it more loudly in my dreams every night....

Aug 13 - Where Do I Go From Here?

Looks like this blog is going to be All About Me this week; I've had a lot of my mind of late( and for years )so apologies to those who expected a chirpier blog like last week's. No, when things start winding down from a ten-year plan, it's expected that you'll feel deflated, as the sense of accomplishment quickly turns to thinking about the next step. It's been so long since I've thought about What Next that I'm almost giddy with the possibilities. My parents are seen to, mostly, so that means I can now focus on just Me; I've succeeded where I KNOW most others would have failed, but the personal cost to me has been high. As I expected and accepted. Yet things could have gone far worse had I not acted, and they could have gone sideways at any point along the way. I have to convince myself that where I am now, that where my family is now, is a success in most ways - not measured against the slippery and dangerous  'What Might Have Been' but still miles above where we could have all ended up - destitute, adrift or worse yet, separated in more than a few ways. BC is definitely still a Beginning for me, now more than ever... I just have to find my way back to my own road.

Aug 14 - Lazy Day Three

How awkward; I am feeling truly lazy today and I am not sure how I feel about that. Should I be ashamed that I am so worn out that my third day of vacation feels like the first, or should I be glad my body has recognized it is being given a chance to recuperate while my brain stops fizzling? It's very strange; I've been operating on such disparate personal and professional levels for so long to cope with stress that feeling them start to level out is extremely odd - like walking across a waterbed with a head cold carrying a full fishtank. Realizing that I do not have to worry about the coming week( save for travel plans )is such an alien experience that though I can conceptualize it, my body still reacts in anticipation of stress the same old way - again, part of the signs of total burnout and the need for vacation. Doing Nothing is not a failure then... instead it is the anticipation of positive change, when I can play a video game or read a book with all aspects of my mind in one place, instead of fractured, as I have been for so long. Who knows? Maybe by the time the month is over I'll be able to pick up a book again, or play a videogame, for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Here's hoping.

Whatever's wrong with my knees seems to be fading, so I hope( there's that word again )that it's something related to the ungodly amount of time I spent on my feet a week ago. Being on vacation may be just the cure that I needed, both physically and mentally... I don't want to tour Niagara with a cane. Been there, done that, have the wedding pics.

Next week's blog entry will be from Niagara - wahoo!!

Reveleations, Risings and Real Ghostbusters

The word of the week is anticipation!

Aug 1st - What Holiday Is That Again?

It's BC Day here in British Columbia, a holiday that no other province in Canada shares. Having the day off was nice, as I slept in and got quite a few things done around the place that I'd not had a full day to attend to - including tossing a whole lot of old papers that I'd no idea I'd held into. I like having a unique holiday, especially as it means an extra day off with pay - did you know that PEI has Islander Day as an official holiday in February? Check out the LIST OF HOLIDAYS and plan out the remainder of your paid days off for 2011; I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving myself in October, as it has a bonus of TURKEY on top of holiday pay. Sweet deal, pass the gravy please!

Aug 2 - What Is Life About?

We've all heard sayings like 'The Best Things In Life Are Free' and 'The Simple Things In Life Are Best' - right? I've mentioned previously in this blog about 1000 Awesome Things, and there's also 30 Of The Most Satisfying Simple Pleasures Life Has To Offer which is a rather long hedonistic title, I have to say. Yet the picture below that I found this week on FBook really sums a lot of those things up... and it's common-sense all the way. Read and enjoy:

Life.jpg by Monty Winters

Aug 3 - Work Said WHAT? Really? No, REALLY?

aka PINCH ME - I must be dreaming!

Today was a shocker. A total surprise I never thought I'd see. Work called in ALL the managers from Vancouver Island and sat us all down in the very post conference room at Head Office. Present at the meeting was the new VP of BC operations and a whole lot of other bigwigs... and they were all there to say there were sorry. Yes, that's right: they said they had treated ALL of us badly and were hell-bent now on making things right. All of we managers there were stunned and kept pinching ourselves for the SIX HOURS that we were there, as the brass outlined how they were going to bring things back on track with OUR help. They didn't promise that it'd be easy or quick, but that they wanted to do ALL they could to make working for our company a positive and fun experience - contrary to the mess it's become for the last long, long while. By the time the day was done, I'd say they'd addressed about 80% of my major concerns, things that I'd thought would NEVER change or that I would NEVER even see addressed in my time with the company. I wasn't quite singing and skipping when I left, but I DID see things with a hopeful light that I had never, EVER thought I would just a day ago. So I'm pausing in my look for other work to see if my company truly is going to walk the walk, to truly listen to constructive criticism from its managers and to make a solid effort to become a workplace I might actually want to turn up to every day. Quite a revelation today, I have to say!!!!!

It's a start. I slept very well, for the first time in months, hopeful about keeping my job. And maybe, finally, turning it into a career.

Aug 4 - My New Card's Defective?

Oh, the woe... my new video card has been glitching randomly. And not just any glitch, it's the dreaded 'Hyper Transport Sync Flood Error' - which in plain English means the computer hard crashes itself from windows back to a boot screen. Which really sucks and is BAD for it. So far I've had about a dozen such crashes while I've been researching solutions, but it's one of those random hard-to-track-down glitches. Typically, Sapphire tech support is of no help, but they're trying... I just don't want to have to return the card for 'repairs' that won't fix some odd incompatibility with my motherboard make / model. And yes, I know - if I had an Apple, I wouldn't have these problems - but I can't afford an Apple that I'd be happy with in terms of speed / specs. So I'll just have to bandage my bleeding from being cutting-edge and man up.

Or just return the damn card next week before I leave and pop in the one that ran just fine. If slowly.

Aug 5 - Who You Gonna Call?

One thing that the new video card could do was punch up the visual levels of The Real Ghostbusters game that's been languishing on my PC. With heavy graphical muscle finally available, the game really shines with effects and details. I admit to being a huge Ghostbusters fan since it first came out in 1984( and I was still a kid! )and I just loved the tech gadgets in the film. I've always wanted to make up a Ghostbusters costume, but I'd have to do it right and that's just darn expensive. However, something's coming out in the fall that will make it a bit cheaper: a Ghost Trap with lights, sounds and even movement, from Mattel! That's just damn cool, really; imagine what it'd be like if we had holographic tech of any kind right now. You'd be able to scare the living daylights out of people with the push of a button! Hrmmm....

I am still thinking about going out this Halloween as this though.

Aug 6 - How Long Is My Break Again?

A very long day at work today( again )for a total of 10.5 hours of Busy. At least I had help; my new trainee was there for 6 hours and she's quite good for someone with a month's training... but she's not fast enough yet, so I ended up serving the majority of customers to keep things moving. One thing about my workplace regarding breaks: you can take one whenever you want( but not too many, lazybones! )instead of taking an unpaid 30-min break as required by law. Which has meant over the last decade I've worked there that 'set' breaks always turn into collections of 5 minutes snatched as you can between customers and phone calls when you're the only person working. At least today I managed to get in most of a 30 minute late lunch, though again I still had to field a few trainee questions and grab the phone when she was too busy. Appealing to Head Office for 0.50 more staff always turns into a diatribe of how our revenue isn't high enough to support that... the usual. At least they're now open to discussing the matter in-depth, compared to even a week ago - so that's something.

Aug 7 - Going Ape?

Last night I saw the reboot an old franchise Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. Now, I have to say that that hoary old series of films was a staple of my Saturday afternoon TV habits as a kid; I must have seen each one dozens of times over the years, albeit in parts some days. It had everything I liked: talking apes, old technology and nuclear apocalypse all rolled into one. I could have done without Charlton Heston, but he played the rugged selfish survivalist well enough so I can't fault him for the part really. Back to the reboot: I liked the movie, which surprised me. It was well-written, moving, had lots of cutting-edge special effects and incorporated Andy Serkis( he of Gollum fame from the recent LOTR films )into the package. The action was a little sparse and some things defied believability( HOW many apes are there in San Franscisco, anyway? )but overall it kept me interested for most of the film... despite there being no nuclear apocalypse - though there WAS something similar, at the end. Made my rather dull( in a nice way )day today rather bearable, as I finished off a review for a teller at home after work and put myself to bed with dreams of trees and sun and ... bananas?

I'm on vacation this week starting Friday AM... it's been a LONG time in coming. Yay!

Vacations, Video and Verisimilitude

The word of the week is VACATION! 

Vacation Update: Flight's booked! I'll be in Niagara Aug 17-27th. Huzzah!

I'm finalizing a place to stay, but I should have wheels( rental car )while there.

There are no specific plans, just seeing my friends and family and relaxing. :-) Sweet!

Looking forward to seeing everyone! Please pass on the visit news... I don't want to forget anyone who'd like to grab a coffee or beer while I'm there! 

July 25 - Magical Games Of Old!

Back in the day, video games were all about the gameplay; fancy graphics were for arcade consoles and not home computers. Yet things were about to get shaken up: Out Of This World was released to gamers in 1992. I remember watching the opening sequence and being just blown away by the liquid smoothness of the animation, as well as the storytelling. This was a game that would set the stage for later classics such as Half-Life( also known for its amazing cinematic intro )and of course, Neverwinter Nights( ahem ). As the article says, it was something magical, and I still today look for games to bring me that deeply into the experience - to find the magic again.

July 26 - Conventions!

I've only been to two WorldCon conventions in all my years( 1998 in Boston and 2003 in Toronto )so I feel I'm due for another one soon - overdue, in fact. I'm MUCH closer now to the city of San Diego, home of the massive ComicCon. One really fun aspect of a convention are the costumes, and this year's ComiCon2011 did not disappoint! Take a gander at the hundreds of incredible costumes that convention-goers donned in this gallery - standouts in my eyes are the She-hulk grasping a parking meter and the reverse-gender Avengers team. No sign of ten-foot tall aliens from Avatar, strangely; you'd think there'd be at least one in the crowd...? In any case, I am giving serious thought to attending FanExpo2011 in Toronto when I am in Niagara in a few weeks towards the end of my visit - lots of g33ky goodness there! 

July 27 - Friendship

These last few years, I've been giving some serious thought to what true  friendship is, as living in a 'friend desert' out here has naturally had me thinking on the topic. I won't go into too much detail, just to toss my more thoughtful conclusions out there - you can Google your own ideas on the subject too, I'm sure. No, one of the 'pillars' of my Self is that I consider myself to be a good friend - not the best, certainly, but one who strives to improve himself as a friend and learn from his mistakes to become a better person too. It may sound corny, but I like to think I'd make a decent chivalric knight of old: to speak the truth, to be loyal, to be kind and to follow other tenets of knighthood as best one can - without going overboard, naturally. Everyone has to find meaning in their lives, with the help of others and through self-reflection. However that meaning manifests itself( religion, politics, volunteering.. )then I want to be there for my friends - without getting tangled in religion or politics or other things. Complicated, isn't it? 

July 28 – Vacation approved! FINALLY! 

Out of the blue today, our new temporary DM told me that she’d approved my vacation time – probably because I’d dropped numerous hints about how the district staff were all in dire need of vacations that the previous DM had not approved. Myself at the top of the list with 230 hours of banked vacation time that I’ve not been able to use( that’s close to 6 weeks, folks! )due to lack of staff in the area. As I've mentioned, we have a few new people coming on-line this month, which I'm gratified to see... as we keep losing others, so the situation still hasn't righted itself. Of course if I go, that just makes it all the harder for the others... but I am confident that the current staff in the district can make things work without me. Mainly because I now only get a few calls a day from people wanting to know how to do things, instead of a few every hour... that can wear on you, no matter how much you want to help out.

July 29 - It Looks Good!

The new video card for my desktop PC is performing splendidly, though it is eating up quite a bit of power - about 100W when running, which is a LOT for a video card. Thankfully the heat is manageable so far, and it's kicking butt running BOINC data 24/7 when the PC's idle. I've also been feeding my DVD collection into the PC( turned into .MKV files )so I can get my collection into a digital format to watch wherever I please - and view them much more easily than having to pop discs into the DVD player for every episode. Even though we're living in the 'Post-PC era' I think there's still a place for desktop PC's: mine is where my media resides, as well as running high-end games that I can't on my Xbox or my tablet. Plus it has room to expand( again unlike my other devices )with space for another 6 hard drives... and since 'uploading to the cloud' would take weeks( or months )with all the data I plan to have, that's just not a practical option. Broadband is still not where it needs to be: speedy AND affordable! Next on my PC wishlist: The Big O ... $17K of personal desktop power! 

July 30 - A Perfect Saturday - Missed!

Augh...the weather turned perfect today and I was stuck inside until after 7pm at work; at least it was made bearable by my new trainee continuing to exceed all my expectations. I understand again the old saw about a teacher's joy being a good student; when it's easy to teach someone new things and not have to repeat yourself constantly, the whole process becomes a treat for everyone. Even when I managed to overflow the sink in the kitchenette, it was funny... and I learned a few things about cleanup too. Funny as well that it's the third time that branch has flooded, but only the first time that it's been my fault. Not a big flood, mind you. In any case I eased myself into my chair at home to use my PC... and found my Win7 partition had vanished from my PC. Argh - took me the rest of the night to get it back, but again: I learned and dealt with it. 

July 31 - Summer At Last!

The final day of July; I have to say it hasn't been much of a summer for me. The weather's been consistently cool and cloudy up until this weekend( with one exception )and I haven't got out much to do Outdoorsy Things. In the main thanks to massive work stress( and not finding a new job or having vacation time! )and other family considerations, it's been a rather blah month. Even today, I went into work( on my day off )for an hour to help out my 1-year CSR to deal with the massive crush of people that have descended on the branch this weekend, WELL beyond anything we'd imagined based on previous projections. She held it together though, so I didn't mind going in to get her onto an even keel again. I was still tired when I got home, but I made it through a good NWN romp where slimes and other nasties tried to ruin my day; I ruined theirs instead and it was very cathartic. Probably why I still play the same game: I started it at the same time as I started at MMart ten years ago. Coincidence? Perhaps... or just Fate telling me not to think about it too much. Hrmmm.... 

I'll close with this: Nathan Fillion rocks. Why? Because he named my fave movie as being the one that almost made him cry... oh, and this poem popped into my head last night with the wind: 

Winds are howling outside the room tonight.

Closed shutters creak, and then all groan in fright.

What darkling shapes creep into shadowed sight?

Stop up your ears and pray for morning's light. 

Summer, Stressors and Symmetry

The word of the week is pragmatic.

July 18 - Job Schisms

It's a hard thing, being comfortable and safe sometimes. In that your job has become routine( as perhaps your life has as well? ): put in the time every day, have a little left over after the bills are paid, and do the same next week. And the next. For me, my job is a massive stressor... but it's been the thing that pays the bills. Now I've found that my( small )team at work is the best bunch of people I've even worked with, at any job I've had - and it's killing me to think that sooner( rather than later )that I will be leaving this 'co-worker perfection' because the rest of the job is a killer. It's a terrible feeling, having fun and being happy working with people who are friends, but knowing you have to leave regardless before the rest of the job breaks you. Disheartening.

July 19 - B5 in Half of 5 Mins

Here's an odd "Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon"-ish thing for you to ponder. As you know, I like Babylon 5( mentioned it a few times, haven't I ? )and so of course I know who a lot of the actors who were in the show are. On FBook, more than a few of these actors have joined the B5 group I'm a part of, and one of them is Shari Shattuck... who is now a writer and no longer acts. How's that for different? I want to write stories as good as those on B5, and she goes from acting on a TOP show like B5 to 'just' writing and joins the same group as I am - symmetry, there. Kind of like summing up all 5 years of B5 in 2.5 minutes, set to the tunes of Barenaked Ladies - again, very apt for Shari's role in B5! Sing along, now:



July 20 - We Can Remember It For You Wholesale

I love how on occasion the thoughts that rattle around in my head appear online as if by magic - seems some of the questions and trends I come up with are also things that other people think about. Take for example, offloading memory: not needing to remember facts, just where those facts ARE, Much like Howard Hughes, who was not an expert in any one field but knew who was and where to get that information when needed as fast as possible. So, back to the modern day: we're developing into a society that knows where the facts are and how to find them... but we don't memorize the facts themselves. That's dangerous... unlike just using the Wayback Machine to surf the World Wide Web as it was - just type in a site and the date you want to see and presto! Like a time machine in your PC. Ah, nostalgia...


July 21 - Nerdy Gift To Myself

( Tech G33k Warning ) A belated birthday present to myself arrived today: a new video card for my new-ish PC. The one I'd purchased with the PC at the beginning of the year got the basics done, but it was cheap and I knew I'd be replacing it ASAP. But not for a lot of cash; some of the higher-end cards go for a lot more than I paid for ALL the new PC parts put together - ouch! Not on my budget, are those. I'd been watching a few cards and doing my research as usual... and lucked in this week, as one particular card by Sapphire went back in stock for a day at Newegg.ca - so I took the plunge. Good thing I did, as it went out of stock / discontinued the next day; PERFECT timing on my part! It's in the Top 5 Best Value of all the cards on the market, and it's really stunning the difference it makes in games and system speed now that it's in( it's a BIG card too, check out the HUGE size difference below! ). I'm really pleased with the cost and the timing of the purchase... I hope it will last me more than a few years! And it looks damn cool to boot!

July 22 - Booty Call !

In keeping with my summer pirate theme, here's something that's always fascinated me since I first read about it in second grade at my school library: The Treasure of Oak Island, right here in Canada! It's an island on the shores of Nova Scotia that purportedly holds buried pirate treasure, that people have been trying to get at for decades unsuccessfully even with the most modern equipment. It's amazing that pirates centuries ago built something so well that it's kept their treasure safe for all these years even into the modern day. Makes me want to grab a pick and shovel and a ticket to the east coast to go digging for a summer...

July 23 - Captain America 3D!

After a surprisingly lovely day at work with no stressors( sun shining and my staff being both competent and fun to be around )it was time to head home... sort of. I ended up grabbing some A&W( their coupons expire July 31st! )and taking in a meal with my pal Kevin. We went tonight to the new Westshore Cineplex Theatres( check out the build progress pics! )that just opened a week ago, which have reclining seats( !! )and full cutting edge 3D screens and sounds. Playing tonight was Captain America: The First Avenger in 3D, which was tastefully done - no hands poking you in the eye or weird effects just for effect's sake. Heck, the whole audience jumped when Cap's shield ricocheted off a tank and came right back at the viewers - perfectly done! A great film, one of the better ones this year. I hope the new Spiderman is as well done...

July 24 - Ahhhhh... Summer timing!

Sometimes it just works: the weather and days off co-operate to bring days like today into glorious fruition, to the point where I feel like I'm wasting time by not relaxing enough - if that makes sense. Temperatures in the mid-20's, a clear cloudless blue sky, no wind save a gentle breeze that caresses the skin with warm fingers that promise memories of laying on a grassy hill to watch birds flit past and the world wander by with a wave. I spent a goodly part of my afternoon outside just enjoying things( with earplugs on occasion )as it was the first real day of summer we've had in this part of BC so far this year. Better than the massive heatwave that's scorching the rest of the continent, I have to say! An evening of NWN was very good as well, with some great character development by a small group of friends and fellow gamers - it's always a thrill to adventure alongside fun people with talent, anytime.

Something's been twinging in my digestives the last few days, so I'm hoping that this week will see it go away. I really don't want something new going wrong down there, as I've had enough trouble over the years from that region....always something. When do our cyborg bodies arrive again?

Bosses, Birthdays and Boredom

The word of the week is celebration.

July 11 - We Know What I Like

People tend to run in circles( especially if one leg is a little short )kind of like the new Google+ which the jury is still out on. Like attracts like, as they say... and the same seems to go for both those I call friends and those I admire. Take, for example, Neil Gaiman's blog: he regularly updates it with his many globe-hopping activities that involve many friends of his. Who are also people I admire: authors Mark Evanier, Terry Pratchett, Harlan Ellison, TV writer JMS( Babylon 5 ), Chris Hardwick( of the Nerdist Podcast )and even TV show host Craig Ferguson of The Late Late Show. All people whose work I enjoy and admire... and happen to know each other fairly well enough to talk regularly of each others work. Like minds, you think? Love it:

July 12 - Hateful Boss Laughs

After a busy day off around the house, I headed out early for an evening out at the movies with a local friend. We stopped at the A&W at the Tillicum Mall for some dinner, where we were hit on by no less than two separate groups of girls... too bad the age gap for all was such we could easily have been their fathers. It was cute though; points to them for flattery and trying, as it cheered me up for the rest of the night. The movie was Horrible Bosses, with Jason Bateman, Kevin Spacey and other notable names; I gave it an 8/10, as the comedy was spot-on and the performance by Jennifer Aniston was totally off her expected characters. I really liked it and had quite a few laughs, especially as I can relate given my current job status.

July 13 - Tired of noisy tires

The 'new' 2006 Mazda 5 micro-van has been a joy to drive around for the last few months. It's spacious, well-equipped, easy to drive and has a power sunroof plus perfect A/C for the heat that has yet to show up this summer. Only one thing bothers me about it: tire noise. The tires on the car have worn unevenly, due to a known problem with the 5's factory wheel alignment. If you turn to the left ever so slightly, the road hum is glaringly loud at any regular speed. I'm looking at replacing all four tires this fall and have been researching the best choices at TireRack.com, which has amazing tools for looking at what tires best suit your needs AND will fit your car. Not to mention the thousands of reviews by actual owners who may often have the exact same vehicle as you - a great site that's been really helpful in making my choice; I'm going Continental, folks!

July 14 - Pirates in Victoria!

Here's something I wish had been around in Niagara when I was a kid: Pirate boat rides on a real pirate ship! There's a tour company here in Victoria BC called Pirate Adventures, which books groups of kids and parents onto hours-long rides on the local waterways. They dress up like pirates and sail the waters with adventures on board the whole time. It's a great idea, which apparently doesn't stop for mere rain - pirates are supposed to be tough, right? Anyway, I really like the idea... but as I'm neither a kid anymore nor have any, it's a moot point. Damn cool though; sure beats the now-defunct diving pirate show at Canada's Wonderland - that got old real fast.

July 15 - Finishing Farscape

The cloudy, rainy weather really moved in today, which was fine by me as I'd much rather that than have my brains baked by the blazing unadulterated heatwave that has gripped the rest of the continent; go Victoria! It was an insanely busy day though, so I left in the late afternoon feeling very tired and very achy in my joints - not a good sign in the summer. I spent my evening trying to resuscitate my old iPhone without success so that I could give it to my sister; I still have hope that I'll be able to do so with a little persistence. I finished off the Farscape TV series tonight as well, with mixed feelings: I loved the show, especially the way the characters were written... but it ended on a sudden 'shocker' along the lines of The Sopranos. Good thing that the fan demand to get The Peacekeeper Wars made worked, as that managed to wrap things up really nicely; more good sci-fi TV series should be so lucky. Next up on my TV list is Fringe, Season One... huzzah!

July 16 - Happy Me-Day, I'm 38. Is that old?

It's a good thing I have family here in BC, as today was a fairly solitary birthday - Facebook aside, of course as I received dozens of happy messages from many friends. Thanks. :-) No, I refer to just 'going out' for my birthday... and though lunch at Original Joe's here in Langford was really delicious, that was it for the day. Once you begin to approach your middle years, birthdays tend to mark time more than being occasions - but shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't each year be a milestone for accomplishments and accumulated wisdom? Plans for the evening fell through, so I wound up watching the entire Harry Potter series on HD-DVD for the rest of the night. Not that that was terrible, mind you, as I'd only seen the first two films up to this point( of the five total in the HD boxed set I picked up as a $25 special in 2007 ). No, it had nothing to do with the lines from the Tragically Hip song 38 years old: apart from the title, it was just cold and foggy outside. No real answers as I fell asleep to the sounds of wizards battling in my head...

This is an afternoon in July ?  Sure beats a heatwave though!

July 17 - A whole weekend off...

A bit of a lazy day, which was nice. I didn't end up sleeping in, as the insane woman upstairs insists on walking around like she's driving nails with her heels. I finished watching the last of the Harry Potter films that I own, The Order Of The Phoenix. It was fairly good, for all my not having read the books - I'll have to pick up the series at the bargain bookstore soon. The rest of the day went by fairly fast, as I worked on various things including some new voice samples for the Russian design team creating their next Babylon 5 game. Voice acting is rather difficult, as you have to invest so much emotion into your lines while maintaining accuracy. And that's just in your regular voice; trying to do accents or other timbres is really, really hard to get right consistently. So I spent some hours doing that all day with the door closed, to my amusement. Later in the night I spent time online with my NWN pals exploring a new area one of them created for our shared world; it was great fun, especially as everyone seems so taken with the character of Nichneven that I so love to play. A great end to the day.

This week's blog seemed to write itself, strangely. Amazing what a weekend off can do to your muse, especially when you're not fretting over the monthly budget as I usually am. Lovely.

Friends, Failures and Frustration

The word of the week is expenditure.

July 4 - Summer SAD 

One would think it was still winter around these parts: overcast, temperatures in the low teens and brown grass. You'd also think I had a moderate case of SAD, as I've not picked up a book or played a game on the Xbox in over a month now - I've no desire to, as I'm losing patience both with work and with my job search. Along with ensuring that my budget plans are being met, little else seems to matter to me this summer, which I think has to do with my frustration over Vacation Denial. The old saying "No matter where you go, there you are" also comes to mind, as I realize I can be just as miserable visiting friends while on vacation as I can be here. Which only adds to my frustration as I ask: do I need a break from myself and if so, how?

July 5 - C. Difficile 

Moving to BC has had its ups and definite downs, but one of the main reasons to move my parents here was to improve my mother's health. Now that Niagara( and ON in general )is in the grip of a nasty drug-resistant strain of bug in its hospital system, I am doubly glad that my mother, with all of her various health problems, does not have to worry during the sizable amount of time she has( and will )spent in hospitals for her various ailments. It's worrying enough when a health problem arises and she has to be hospitalized; add on the very real possibility of catching a superbug and I can hear grey hairs popping into existence atop my head. I hope for all those in the affected hospitals in ON that methods arrive quickly to contain and then eliminate the outbreak of this superbug, which I also fear is a herald of things to come... 

July 6 - Relationships

Dating sites. They're like the romance novels of the internet: great covers, but the experience inside leaves you feeling let down for the money you paid( I'm sure there's a lesson in that ). For years I've popped around to various sites( paid and otherwise )in search of True Love, or at least a close approximation I might be able to live with; so far, no dice. Heck, I've been doing it so long that I'm a charter non-paying member of Match.com ... and it hurts to say that, as they've been charging fees since the year 2000! What I've found in the online experience is the same one as this posting( read the comments! )describes: that it turns you into a cynic who eventually just turns away from online altogether, after the disappointments add up to a level of X( insert your own breaking point here ). If Ms. Perfect Match is out there, she doesn't have a computer... and has likely left the offline coffee shop where we might have met years ago. 

July 7 - I waited 20 years to eat THAT? 

By now, some of you may know that I'm a fan of the apocalyptic, in that I relish wondering how I'd deal with disaster compared to other people. Regardless of the 'disaster' there's one clear fact: you'll need to eat. Have you ever wondered WHAT you would eat though, apart from your fellow bunkmates in too-small the fallout shelter? Wonder no more: you can buy all sorts of survival gear online( 2012 is just next year, if you care )and among those are survival rations of various kinds guaranteed to keep fresh for 20 years until you need them to live. MRE's are also an option, but tend to be both expensive per serving and have a short shelf life of 'only' a few years, compared to several decades. Which may be a factor while you wait for a nuclear winter to end, or for the aliens to finish searching for your well-hidden tinfoil-lined shelter... 

July 8 - Laptop Dies( but not mine! ) 

Spending money bothers me. It's a trait I've developed over the last decade that came about from not having enough to go around, so I became wary of spending it without aforethought - even once I'd made a habit of things like budgets and planning ahead for larger expenses. So when my parent's laptop fritzed out today in an unrecoverable way, I rolled my eyes and made ready the Laptop Plan... which was to go out and buy the best one I could for as little as possible( and not a netbook! )rather than spend about the same to fix the 3-year old Dell 1521 model; a shame. They ended up with a Toshiba C650D-06Q, which was made all the sweeter a deal with a $50-off coupon from Staple's EasyRewards program I'd signed up for months ago( for free ). My parents seem pretty pleased with it so far, insomuch as they just surf the web and answer email on it. They'll be even happier once I get all their backed-up irreplaceable data restored - good thing I was prepared ( as always, paranoid me... )for that sort of thing! 

July 9 - Yell it to the mountains 

Living on a mountain is annoying sometimes, like today when I was up at 6am to get to work for 9am - since there's no trolley service, it was either bike or get a ride... I chose ride, due to exhaustion this week and the fact it's still bloody cold out there for July - sheesh. I did chill in a warm A&W for breakfast( new coupons this month! )though, surfing the web on my little ASUS Transformer; I find new things( and apps )to enjoy every single day with that thing. Which helps maintain the equilibrium when customers scream at me for things that aren't my fault, even when I try to help them. Note for all of you: if you're angry, don't straight-arm a glass door - it won't end well for anyone. So today was another mediocre example of why job searches are vital components for one's sanity, unless your job is a bikini contest judge or a rocket scientist...

July 10 - Happy Birthday, Rene!

It occurs to me that a blog is quite often ego-centric, where you talk about the world as it relates to you, talk about yourself, or just talk... but it's all about you. Well, today I'll break that little trend and talk about a friend of mine, whose birthday it is this very day. Friends, as you know, don't grow on trees( but can come in mail-order packages if you pay enough ). One can never have too many good friends - notice the qualifier there. My friend Rene is one of those good friends, that I've known for years... the sort of friend you realize you'll still have when you're old, grey, toothless and won't admit to anyone that you're a day over thirty. Good friends pick up where they've left off despite distance and years, forgive and hopefully forget the things that made the distance and years seem greater, rather than shorter. I could go on here, but suffice to say I'm grateful and frankly astonished at the large number of wonderful people I've had( and have )in my life, despite my distance from too many of them of late. To you then, Rene, I say Happy Birthday and thanks for being my friend... I hope that I'll be able to be there for a pint next year( and next decade )until we can't recall when we first met - as friends.

Because that's what it's all about.

Adieu for now, my friends - more in a week.

Watches, Warthogs and WTF?

The word of the week is nostalgia.

June 27 - Lego My Ego?

Yep, some straight up nostalgia: Lego fits the bill just fine. If I'd made a short film a tenth as fine as this one for a school project, I'd probably be a director by now. Which would be great, as Lego actors don't throw hissy fits, ask for huge paycheques or get caught in embarassing moments on people's cell cameras. Unless you animate them that way. Enjoy!

June 28 - Watches are back again?

Years ago, I stopped wearing a watch, as I found I didn't need to know the time that badly... and I could always check my cell phone( which made a watch redundant, apart from a fading bling factor for Rolexes ). Now I find that the technology curve is swinging back again, as watches with Bluetooth tech are due to arrive that will 'talk' to your smartphone. Watchmaker Fossil( ironic name, no? )is coming out with their Metawatch, which will display all sorts of simplified data from your cell phone - Facebook updates, Tweets and emails are just a few things that it can show. No need to go digging for your phone, power it up and unlock it every time something happens - just a glance at your wrist will save you many minutes a day. Only if you're busy, of course... and DO leave the thing behind when you're on vacation, of course!

June 29 - Free University Education?

Years ago, I physically attended classes at a bricks-and-mortar university. While the social aspect was great, it was rather hit-and-miss with some of my classes and seminars - I distinctly remember one seminar when I was one of only four people in the entire group who regularly spoke up - sad, and silly too. Why not learn online instead, and avoid having to get yourself to class and sit through the tedium of a lecture sans a fast-forward button? You can view any one of thousands of lectures at iTunesU, or hop on over to YouTube EDU as well - just think of all the classes you wanted to take but couldn't fit into your schedule( or budget ). This opens up the possibility of becoming a true 'lifetime student' without having to fit the cost and time constraints into your daily life and / or career. Fascinating; a technology win!

June 30 - Choose Your Own; WTF, June?

Instead of talking about how exhausting the frantic 10.5 hours I worked today was, I'll direct you instead towards something I wish I could have done today: Choose Your Own Adventure. This was a series of incredibly popular books published in my youth, where you the reader choose your own path through each storyline - I still have them and read through them on occasion. What's the relavancy, you ask? Well, apart from the entertainment value, these books set the stage for today's interactive games, which are the natural extension of the story art begun by print authors so long ago. Being able to place YOURSELF in the story and have it unfold around you is a magical feeling, one not so easily captured today, as a lot of focus seems to be on flashy graphics. I highly recommend playing The Longest Journey, which is an amazing adventure-style game from a few years ago and available cheap on GOG.com. If every game nowadays was of that level, we'd all live in front of our silicon machines.

July 1st - It's Canada Day, eh?

Happy birthday, Canada. I celebrated our country's 144th year by sleeping in and generally trying not to stumble over things, as I was exhausted from yesterday's insanity. I've noticed of late that I'm misspelling things a LOT more when I type, as well as other small things that all seem to add up to my needing a vacation - or a psychotic break, whichever comes first. I've mentioned this already, I know - sorry to repeat myself, but feeling that you're between a rock and a workplace that doesn't care about your mental well-being is not happy-making. And it seems that employees at RIM( makers of the Blackberry )are also feeling like their company is letting them down left and right. I can relate. Thankfully my five-year 'financial plan' comes to fruition next month with my mother's retirement at age 65, so IF a decent job alternate comes along later this year, I can jump ship without feeling a massive burden of responsibility. I might even stop misspelling things.

July 2 - Smog, or Smaug?

I was WAY too tired to do much yesterday - not even fireworks could tempt me out of home. Today was a little better, in that the sun shone all day and I spent a decent part of it outside, either on the balcony or at the Bear's Den( formerly The Bean ), getting my hair ruffled by the sharp( but warm )winds that howl through the area of late. Much better than trying to deal with smog in Niagara though - the air here smells fresh, clean and crisp, as it should in summer. Hopefully by this time next year, we'll be well on our way towards seeing Part 1 of The Hobbit, which of course has the iconic dragon Smaug in it... see a connection?

July 3 - Ten Straight Years Of Games, almost?

Some nostalgia today( deadly, I know ): Some lucky bastard got to drive the only working Halo Warthog vehicle in the world, down in New Zealand at Weta Workshops( the folks who did Lord of the Rings ). I used to play Halo every Sunday with my pals at Simon's on a LAN, our Xbox's and TV's and snacks piled on every available surface. I miss those days. But not the smell. November 2001 was when Halo 1 first hit the Xbox and changed it all up...

Later in the day I went off to work( on my day off )for an hour or so to finish payroll( and so get paid this week ). Such is the life of a manager, as it was far too insanely busy on the 30th to finish. It was a lovely day out, so I spent some time outside next to the fountain in the courtyard outside my condo, which was only recently turned back on. The splashing of the water was very relaxing, and I only wish there was some more comfortable seating near it - instead, all there are is a series of concrete bench-walls, which do nothing for relaxation. And don't get me started about laying down on the grass where all the condo owners take their dogs; disgusting! I did enjoy my evening watching a few more episodes of Farscape, intermingled with a few hours of NWN - that game is one that has lived on every PC I've owned since June 18, 2002... so the anniversary is coming up next year. Who else can say they've played a computer game for ten years solid and STILL enjoy the heck out of out, really?

Bleh - I worked 11 days in a row to culminate in a 3-day weekend, and I'm still tired. Still searching for another job and still hoping that before I leave I'll be able to take SOME kind of vacation. Do I sound like a broken record yet?

Faves, Farscape and Fantasy

The word of the week is frelled, if you know it.

June 20 - New Moola and You

Finally, we're getting plastic money, just like the Australians, New Zealanders and Mexicans have had for years. Canada will release its first polymer-plastic $100 note in November 2011, which will make all of the one billion paper notes in circulation right now obsolete. I've been waiting years for this to finally happen, as it's a huge blow against counterfeiters - I personally have seen hundreds of counterfeit notes in my time at MMart and there are many thousands of them in circulation still. Which is better than it was five years ago, since the government has cracked down so hard on those creating the funny money. Still, when your country doesn't have total confidence in your currency, you need to do something - like make a plastic bill. Can't wait!

June 21 - Summer, at last!

Boy, it's a warm start... with a quick-to-cool trailout, brrr! From twenty degrees to twelve in less than 24 hours is NOT a good start to the season. Yet it also portends that this summer will not be a blazing hot one, unlike in previous years. The cool winds that blow over the mountains here also help to a degree( pun intended )though things do tend to dry out on Vancouver Island in the summer months. Brown grass and water rationing are just around the corner, which is fine... nobody likes to hang out on the front lawn when there's so much else to do.

June 22 - Why do you like that?

We all have our favourite things: books, movies, colours, foods, music... all these and a thousand other things set us apart from each other as unique individuals. We are more than the sum of these parts, but to sum them explains the many bits of you to others in manageable bites. Myself, I have favourite colours( blue and green ), fave music( Tom Petty and Enya )and fave movies( Groundhog Day and Army of Darkness ). Two of my fave authors are Neil Gaiman and J. Michael Straczynski( you know you're a fan when you can spell that offhand! )each of whom have their own personal websites. For JMS, his site is quite extensive and VERY informative - I consider his work to be at the very top tier of living writers today, right up there with Neil Gaiman. Check out their sites and their works to expand your own bits of yourself... and thank your personal stars that you don't ever say some of the things overheard in bookshops.

June 23 - Walking Art Beasts

Some people paint, others work with stone. Still others create their art from... other things. Fewer still make moving art - take a gander at what artist Theo Jansen has brought to life, literally: 

June 24 - More money than I'll ever see

Bill Gates is the second-richest person on the planet( Google the first, if you must )who made his riches by hard work, smart business decisions and having the right product at the right time - reviled as Windows may be, most computers( until recently )ran on a version of it. I've always thought of Gates as a monster, but this rare interview paints him in quite a different light. Especially as he's convincing some of the richest people in the world to give their money away and put it towards causes to make this planet a better place. So that's some good from 'evil' wouldn't you say?


June 25 - Ten Billion Souls?

It's a subject that's been on my mind since early childhood: how many people are there on Earth? I was first introduced to the concept of 'billion' when I looked into how many people there were on the planet( at the time, FAR less than six )and how we all managed to fit. I learned that Earth is a BIG place, but it's not finite... and there are more people every second. Yahoo had a surprisingly in-depth article on the very subject this week, which I really enjoyed not only for its length but for the issues it examined. Too many people = bad for the planet. The best solution? Giant rockets to colonize Mars, of course?


June 26 - A lasso rixa quaeritur

Something introspective was supposed to go here, but I'm too tired. I need more sleep, more exercise and a diet more inclusive of fresh fruits, I think. Or at least fruit smoothies. Some days it's hit and miss, and I find myself checking FBook more often than I should... but I do so to keep up with my friends, family and interests, so it's not as bad as it seems. I seem to have stopped playing games and reading books this past month, gravitating instead towards watching the Farscape TV series in its entirety - which is really enjoyable, moreso than I had recalled. There's something to be said for having a little to look forward to after a long day, be it a bit of NWN, a good dinner or just a good show to watch. Today I had all three, so +1 me.

Day 7 of 11 is over, so I'll leave you with The History Of Groo The Wanderer. Say Cheese Dip all over again this year!

Doomsday Devices, Darth Fiddler and Dumb People

The word of the week is riot. Not the laughing kind.

June 13 - Star Wars Done Funny-Fiddly 

The great thing about pop culture is that it evolves from shared experiences, touchstones if you will, that we all know. Only two days ago, a Star Wars re-edit was uploaded to YouTube that is absolutely hilarious! It's a comedic take of the scene where the Millennium Falcon is first pulled into the Death Star and a scanner team is sent aboard... who apparently are rather harder to knock out this time around. Some other Star Wars in the local news this week: local Victoria busker celeb Darth Fiddler was attacked by a group of morons downtown. Thankfully he wasn't hurt, but his violin was smashed. Social media to the rescue - thousands of people he has entertained have posted their outrage, and a local music shop stepped up to replace his violin... with a neon-esque lightsaber bow added. Love this town! 

June 14 - What's Old is New again 

Wow, I've gone out to a LOT of movies this last month; more than I've seen in the last year total, at the theaters. Tonight I saw Super 8, which was really well done - it reminded me of ET combined with a horror flick and Stand By Me. The effects were second to the story, and the setting was bang-on for the late 70's - so much so that I felt pangs of nostalgic recognition in many scenes. 

The film also reminded me that many people are using the 'net to find out more details on the old shows I liked, far more easily than you ever could even ten years ago. Shows like The Muppets, Buck Rogers, or Captain Power were all shows I recall with great fondness, but knew little about while they were on the air. Sure, there were fan clubs you could join but those were expensive and usually the magazines they put out were rather on the thin side when it came to actual show details. So now I hunt things down on the net, occasionally coming across gems like this one: photos from the actual set during production. Fantastic to see people who used to work on these shows posting things all these years later for fans old and young alike to enjoy. 

June 15 - Small IS Livable for a family! 

I know, I know... it's obvious by now, I like small houses. So far I've only seen them for single people, not a family. That changed when I came across this video, which shows a family living mortgage-free in their small home, right next to their same-sized workplace. What an intelligent and efficient lifestyle choice; watch it and see if you can picture your family living there: 

June 16 - Vancouver Riots? Really? 

Living in Victoria is like being in Niagara in some ways: we're a 'small' city next to a giant like Vancouver or Toronto. Yet some things hit close to home, like the Vancouver Riots this week. We got to see social media at work on a large scale for the first time in Canada, with the public helping to identify the criminally stupid people involved. No longer able to remain anonymous, the majority of photos are being sent to the Vancouver Police Dept, where they are aiding investigators enormously. The trouble with such photos however, is that innocent bystanders caught in the riots may be falsely accused of participating, which is why its important to send the photos to the police and let them build evidence using their methodology and not fall back on 'mob shame' efforts that some websites are flaunting. It's a slippery slope and one we all need to tread lightly; reputation is something that takes years to build and only seconds to destroy... and often the 'net is the medium used in both case. Good and bad. 

June 17 - Mental Health at your workplace 

Well, here's an unexpected bit of news: Canada has become the FIRST nation to propose protecting every worker's mental health - a potential minefield of legislation and administration pitfalls, but commendable all the same. I sure could use a few Mental Health Workplace Guidelines to wave at my employers the next time they do something idiotic like cancelling people's vacations - I'd love to have been able to ring up a government agency and ask "Can they do that?" and hear a definite "No way! Send us the details; you NEED your vacation to keep your mental health!" ( check out the comments on this article as well, very insightful ). Which also brings up the specter of people abusing the system, as our current heath system in general seems to have quite a few people milking it for more than they should... that's humanity for you, though. 

June 18 - 'Meeting' my childhood stars 

Yes, social media seems to be the theme this week. Today, for example, I joined a few FBook groups for old shows I liked... and was stunned to find numerous members of the old cast already part of the group! It's amazing to see someone like Erin Gray, whom I enjoyed watching in Buck Rogers, being part of the same group I am - one of a few thousand, to be sure, but still MUCH less far-removed from their fans than before where they could only be reached through their agents or at conventions. I can now talk (in)directly to actors, directors and others who were part of shows I've enjoyed, thanks to FBook, which adds a much more personal level to my interaction with my favourite forms of entertainment. The danger lies in that having tens of thousands of 'fans' deluging individual actors or other people in the entertainment industry means that the personal gets lost - I hope that doesn't happen, but somehow I feel the cool wind of the inevitable in my words above. 

Which is why I like Doomsday devices! Sure, it's an incredibly expensive and exclusive hobby, but being the baddest kid in the galactic block evens things out a bit. Eat your heart out, Doctor Hubert J. Farnsworth! 

June 19 - Delivered: One Day Off 

It's been a long week; today's my only day off before I start an 11-day stretch ending with the Canada Day weekend off, my own 'mini-vacation' to myself until such time as I can arm-wrestle my new DM into granting sanity-time to all area employees ASAP. So I'm just cruising the next few months, keeping up my job search and enjoying the fact that I work with a solid crew of staff who enjoy having me as their boss. Too bad the company is so focused on metrics and other idiocies to see how they're alienating people... but then I suspected that it would come to this years ago. Collect paycheque, pass Go and repeat until out of sanity or you get a Switch Jobs card... with money in the bank for the transition period, of course. The smart thing would be to have six months of wages in the bank to allow you the freedom to change jobs as needed... something I'm working towards but haven't reached. Yet. Toodles! 

After a lot of time on the phone, I gave up and activated an internet stick with Telus in addition to re-activating my old phone this week. The iPhone 3G isn't coming back and I don't want any of their current smartphones on my contract... so it's an extra bill each month for anywhere-access for my ASUS tablet. Not a lot, but enough to make my teeth grind that it came to that. Why is it that I can love tech so much, yet it still bites me in the ass so often?